History Series / Liquidation

* AlasPoorVillain: The deaths of [[spoiler:Chekan and Ida]] (treacherously killed by members of their own gang when fleeing the city) are quite tragic, and [[spoiler:their bodies being thrown into the same boat]] (in accordance with the woman's dream the night before) can be a massive TearJerker. And there's the fact that they have been dreaming of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaving the gang altogether and starting a new life in Turkey]] from the first episode they appear in, and if it hadn't been for the Academic capturing [[spoiler:Ida]] and pulling IHaveYourWife on [[spoiler:Chekan]] to keep him working, they would have done so.

* SpiritualSuccessor. The plot of the 1979 Soviet miniseries ''The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'' is also centered around figuring out a conspiracy in a 1946 Soviet city, with the OldCopYoungCop team solving the crimes. But ToBeLawfulOrGood is handled differently, with Zheglov in ''The Meeting Place'' planting evidence to catch a thief and Gottsman in ''Liquidation'' insisting on having a lawful reason to jail the criminals. [[spoiler:Moreover, here the young cop turns out a DeceptiveDisciple and the real BigBad of the series]].

'''Liquidation''' (Russian: Ликвидация, Likvidatsiya) is a Russian 2007 detective/action miniseries with an all-star cast including Vladimir Mashkov, Sergei Makovetsky and Kseniya Rappoport. The action is set in the post-Second World War city of Odessa, where there is a major Nazi conspiracy that seems to puzzle not only the investigation, but even ordinary criminals. The city is on the verge of being thrown into chaos, and Marshal Zhukov, now head of the military district, is forced to use drastic measures against the bandits. Meanwhile Lt. Colonel David Gottsman, chief of criminal investigation unit against banditry, and Colonel Chusov, Head of Counterintelligence, struggle to find the leader of the conspiracy, and the further they get, the more they believe it is a mole among their own people.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything. The plot of the 1979 Soviet miniseries ''The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'' is also centered around figuring out a conspiracy in a 1946 Soviet city, with the OldCopYoungCop team solving the crimes. But ToBeLawfulOrGood is handled differently, with Zheglov in ''The Meeting Place'' planting evidence to catch a thief and Gottsman in ''Liquidation'' insisting on having a lawful reason to jail the criminals. [[spoiler:Moreover, here the young cop turns out a DeceptiveDisciple and the real BigBad of the series]].

* EveryoneIsASuspect: When it's clear, Gottsman begins to suspect all of his closest co-workers. The ones who were GoodAllAlong [[spoiler:and who survived the mess]] have a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming in the end.

* VillainousBreakdown: Shtekhel goes through it when he [[spoiler:sends his nephew to his death on the Academic's orders]]. He falls into a chair, muttering "That's how it is", and later he is shown weeping.

** Nora, [[spoiler:who took a pseudonym from Ibsen's play after her first husband was shot as a traitor]]. Her real name, Yelena Brumer, is revealed closer to the end.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Plenty of examples. The Academic himself dotes on his young naive girlfriend, Shtekhel, one of his gang, is genuinely fond his nephew, and Chekan, another gangster, is in a long-time passionate relationship with Ida.

* DetectiveMole: The Academic [[a.k.a. Major Vitaly Krechetov]]. Also one of his minor associates, [[spoiler:Luzhov, a soldier]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Plenty of examples. The Academic himself dotes on his young naive girlfriend, Shtekhel, one of his gang, is genuinely fond his nephew, and Chekan, another gangster, is in a long-time passionate relationship with Ida, a smugglers' associate.

** Nora, Gottsman's sweetheart, [[spoiler:who took a pseudonym from Ibsen's play after her first husband was shot as a traitor]]. Her real name, Yelena Brumer, is revealed closer to the end.

* EverybodyIsASuspect: When it's clear, Gottsman begins to suspect all of his closest co-workers. The ones who were GoodAllAlong [[spoiler:and who survived the mess]] have a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming in the end.

* FriendlyEnemy. Gottsman is a neighbor and almost friend of one of the city's most wanted thieves, "Uncle Yeshta". He is also a figure of authority among the rest of Odessa's criminals, once even asking them for help with catching the Academic's gang.

* EvenEvilHasStandards. The usual criminal bands act according to their own strict set of rules, and their cases can be handled through diplomacy. They are shocked at the Academic's atrocities: after an attempted assassination of Gottsman (a grenades is thrown into his window), Uncle Yeshta firmly says "It's no one of ours."

* EvenVillainsHaveLovedOnes: Plenty of examples. The Academic himself dotes on his young naive girlfriend, Shtekhel, one of his gang, is genuinely fond his nephew, and Chekan, another gangster, is in a long-time passionate relationship with Ida, a smugglers' associate.

* VillainousBreakdown: Shtekhel, one of the gangsters, goes through it when he [[spoiler:sends his nephew to his death on the Academic's orders]]. He falls into a chair, muttering "That's how it is", and later he is shown weeping.

* ReformedCriminal: Fima, a former thief, now actively helps Gottsman's investigation.